Adil Najam
Today is the 10th of Muharram. Ashura.
It commemorates a struggle that is steeped in deep spiritual meaning, not only for Islamic history but for all humanity. It is a struggle between good and evil, between just and unjust, between weak and powerful, between immediate and the eternal, between principle and ambition. The power of Ashura is not only in the epic events that it commemorates, it is in the narrative of those events, in the symbolisms that we construct. Ultimately, it is in the meanings that we derive from those events.
Muharram is, of course, of special significance to Shias. But the events and meaning of Ashura is of significance and relevance to all Muslims, and I would suggest, to all humans everywhere.
Like so many others growing up in a Sunni household I grew up observing ehteram-i-Muharram and am always drawn in the days leading up to Ashura towards thinking about the meaning of religion and of faith. To me these have always been days of deep spiritual reflection; especially of intellectual enquiry into the meaning of justice (the concept of ‘adl’ holds a deep significance to me given the name I was given at birth and therefore I have always interpreted Ashura particularly as a time to reflect on what justice is).
Growing up in Pakistan, the night of Ashura was always defined for me by the Majlis i Shaam i Gharibaan (often by Allama Naseer ul Ijtihaadi) on PTV on the night of dasveen Muharram, which was followed immediately - and at right about midnight - by Syed Nasir Jahan’s soulful recitation of Salam-i-Akhir.
Bachay to aglay baras hum hain aur yeh gham phir hai
Jo chal basay tou yeh appna salam-i-akhir hai
His soulful voice, so pregnant with a deep and heartfelt pain, always echoes in my head when I read of continuing sectarian violence and the instigation of sectarian hatred.
Also echoing in my head are memories of the eloquent narratives of those PTV Shaam i Gharibaan’s. What I took from my yearly ritual of sitting glued to the screen was that the message of Ashura, of Karbala, is a universal and humanist messages. Justice is a universal message. Courage is a universal message. Conviction is a universal message. Sacrifice is a universal message.
It is the universality of the messages of Ashura that I hope we will all reflect upon. Every one of these messages is literally torn asunder each Muharram when the merchants of sectarianism highjack these commemorations with their vitriolic politics of fear, of difference, of hatred.
While these are universal messages, they are also - as they must be - messages of Pakistaniat. Yasser Hamdani sent me this quote from Mohammad Ali Jinnah published in a souvenir commemorating the 1300th anniversay of Imam Hussain’s shahadat.
There cannot be a better and more illustrious example than that of Husein who was the greatest embodiment of courage, conviction and sacrifice and every Mussalman in particular should take the great example of his life and service and follow it.
Jinnah was right. He would probably be pained to see how not only his own message, but that of Imam Hussain’s life -and death - have been so very lost on so many of his countrymen today.
PS: By “his son” I meant quite clearly Muawiyah’s son Yazid ofcourse. But then again, some must be so charged up by religion - looking for the smallest excuse to show their religiousity- must have been blind enough to assume that I was talking about the Holy Prophet’s grandson…
The problem with our society is the lack of tolerance and/or giving the benefit of doubt to the other. Only god knows how he came to the conclusion that I was “denying” the Karbala massacre and the tragedy unleashed on the family of the Prophet… perhaps it is the “holier than thou” attitude that plagues Wahabis and Shias alike that is the problem here. I quote my original post here and ask if others too can draw the same conclusions…
[quote comment=”32363″]I read that article by Javed Chaudhry… and frankly I disagree with it completely.
The conflict at Karbala was essentially a power struggle between Banu Omeyya and Banu Hashim…
Muawiyah, being a prudent and wise man, had sought to compromise with the family of the Prophet (PBUH)… but his son made the huge mistake of antagonizing the masses by ordering the butchery at Karbala… we mourn the family of the prophet because it was a great tragedy.
Taliban on the other hand persecuted inter alia the shias, sunnis, hazaras, women etc… how can anyone compare them to Imam Hussain’s sacrifice… god knows. Perhaps Mongol Horde under Genghis Khan is a much better analogy
But then you have people like Mullah Zaheer running amuck… making a mockery of our country, our people and our religion… and people like Javed Chaudhry around to encourage this.[/quote]
Clearly my point that Imam Hussain’s sacrifice should not be compared to taliban has been lost.
Eidee Mian,
It is amazing that you accuse me who was brought up in shiite dominated household of being a “Wahabi”. If objectivity is being “Wahabi” then so be it. However my point - which clearly missed you- was that comparing Taliban to Imam Hussain (as Javed Chaudhry has done in the article quoted by Adnan Siddiqui) is a travesty.
I am afraid I have read history of that period too closely not to see the real power struggle that was going on and the role of Abdullah Bin Zubair in egging on Imam Hussain to make way for his own claim. This does not take away from the supreme tragedy that Karbala is nor does it take away from the character and life of Imam Hussain.
BTW… I am Yasser Hamdani mentioned hereinabove.
I think we should realize that namaz was being offered by Yazid’s army on Ashura….
Muslims should be defined by their character and not by thier beliefs… I say this because with the right character, the person is bound to be having the right beliefs
By saying read up on Hussain, I think you should be able to diagnose the problems Muslims have…everyone believes that what he knows is the best and his sect is the best and TRUE…my only point it, pls change your thinking and give up SECTS…I apologize if someone understood something else, you wanna be true to Imam Hussain, do’t call yourself SHia or Sunni, these sects have caused enough damage and bloodshed….
Read up on Hussain…
I had thought not to comment, but I am doing it…What do you mean read up on Hussain? What makes you think that I have not read?
You are still not understanding my point of view…if Holy Prophet or Hazrat Imam Hussain did not call themselves shia or sunni, did not come on the roads to moan, how can you be soooooo proud after making sects and dividing Islam? I’m sorry brother, I have failed to understand….forgive me
By the way, for my knowledge, pls do tell me if Hazrat Gibraiel was a shia or a sunni??or was he wahabbi?
Also, about your comment on rituals. First of all, the vast majority of people participate in Muharram activities mainly because they want to listen to the lectures, etc. If you have ever listened to one of these lectures (’majlis’), you would know that 90% of the time is devoted to re-iterating the teachings of Islam (i.e. the Quran and Prophet Muhammad SAW).
As far as the other rituals are concerned, their permissibility, purpose, etc are debatable…such as is the case with a lot of other activities performed by Muslims. For instance, a lot of Arabs in my local mosque consider what we in Pakistan call “Quran Khwani” to be a negative thing…now, what is one to say in that situation. The important thing to remember is that no one is forcing you to participate in these rituals and that because you are not god, you do not have the right to judge. You can express your disapproval in a dignified way.
[quote comment=”32403″]Its not a rocket science, its v simple, don’t call yourself Shia or Sunni, just plain Muslim is good enough…[/quote]
Good to see your comment; seems like your rhetoric has been toned down a bit. Read up on Hussain, he was not an “antagonist.”
Every Shia I know considers himself to be a Muslim first; more precisely that question never comes up. What is this fascination with being one thing first and something else second…who implied to you that by calling himself Shia he was degrading the Muslim identity??
Calling onself Shia is just a way of saying that you recognize the importance of the events that are commemorated during Muharram.